Score-keeping apparatus.



E..W.`GU1LF0RD,1R.

SCORE KEEPING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. I7 1915.

Patented Feb. 6, 1917.

EDWIN WILLIAM GUILFORD, JE., 0F i 3:1. GTON, DISTRICT OF CQLUMBIA.

SCBE-KEEPING .APPATUS.

neoication of Lettere l aient.

Patented Feb. d, filt..

.application mea February 17, 1ers. serial no. asie.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that li, EDWIN WILLIAM Grmnrono, .l r., a citizen of theUnited States, residing at the city of Washington, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Score- Keeping Apparatus; and l do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates broadly to improvements in score keeping apparatus and speciically to a combination of elements including a machine for vending a score sheet to be used for the keeping of scores in bowling alleys. Heretofore it has been the common practice to provide score sheets for this purpose, to allow the players to bowl the length of time which they may wish, to keep their scores on the score sheet, and for the proprietor of the alleys to then collect for the use of the alleys. lt is also common practice for the loser in such games to stand all expenses for the use of the alleys. This often causes heated and lengthy discussions between the players before the bill is paid and the alleys are vacated to allow other persons to use the same, and needless to say, f

this causes a great deal of valuable time to be uselessly expended by the proprietor and prevents the alleys from being in continual use.

lt is the object of my invention, therefore,

to overcome these dimculties by providing Y a coin controlled apparatus for vending the score sheet, whereby it must be paid for before it is used, and therefore before the game is rolled.

With this end in view, the invention resides in the combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In describing the invent'on, I shall refer to the accompanying dra ings wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the various views, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of an apparatus constructed in accordance with my inven tion; Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section thereof; Fig. 3 is a horizontal section as seen along the plane indicated by the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a detail vertical transverse section taken on the line 4 4 of Fig.3; Fig. 5 is a detail of the locking device to be described; Fig. 6 is a similar view of one of the spring pressed bearings with which the pressing rollers are provided; and Fig. 7 is a detail perspective'view of the operating disks for rotating the feed roller upon insertion of a coin.

ln these drawings, constituting a part of the application, the numeral 1 designates an upright rectangular board adapted to be supported in any preferred manner. To the upper end of this board, a casing 2 is secured by screws or other appropriate fastening devices, said casing having a substantially .cylindrical upper portion 3 and having its lower portion reduced in size and provided with a horizontal knife 4. This knife is spaced a slight distance from the front face of theboard 1, whereby to provide an outlet slot 5 lying in the same plane in which said front face ofthe board is disposed, this positioning of the slot being essential for a rea- Sonj to become clear. p

addition to thel features before dep scribed, the casing is equipped with a hinged front'd'normally held in closed positionby Ya lock 7 and wlth a coin box 8 disposed at one endof said casing, and provided with a normally Vlocked door 9 which may be opened to remove coins from said box.

Revolubly supported in the cylindrical portion 3 is a reel 10 upon which a score sheet 11 is `wound, said sheet extending downwardly from the reel between a pair of guideplat'es 12 and having its lower end positioned in the slot 5. As4 clearly seen in Figs. 2 and 3, the depending portion of the sheet 11 is passed beneath a pressing roller 13 disposed near the front of the casing and then over a rubber covered feed roller 14 in rear of said roller 13. It will be noted that the sheet is held in contact with the feed from each fother.

which may have been imparted to it by the reel 10, thus preventin the sheet from curling-whenl it is projecte from the casing into contact with t e front face ofthe board 1. For so pro'ecting the sheet, I employ any preferred orm of coin controlled mecha'- nism which-will allow the feed roller 14 to be rotated a predetermined amount upon the insertion of a coin (in the present case, a dime). As illustrative of one form of mech-4 anism which may be employed, I have shown one end of `the shaft 16 of the feed roller, as provided with a pair of spaced disks 17, whose inner faces are provided with radial grooves 18, four of such grooves bein illustrated in each disk as spaced ninety egrees The two disks 17 are keyed upon the shaft and the grooves there in are adapted to receive coins droped into an appropriate coin chute 19. perating loosely on the shaft 16 and disposed between the two disks 17, is an operating disk 20 which is provided with a rlght angular lnotch 21 in its edge,'this notch being normally disposed in position to receive a coin dropped into the chute 19 and received by the grooves 18. It will therefore be clear that rotation of the disk 20 a quarter of a revolution will, through the instrumentality of the coin, rotate the shaft 16 and the feed roller 14 this amount, thus discharging the proper amount of the score sheet for the use of one player, who, incidentally has paid in advance for the use of the alley. In the present case, the disk 2O is shown as equipped with an operating lever 22 which extends through a slot 23 in the front of the casing and whose movement is limited by a pair of sto s 24. The provision of a comparatively ong operating lever is essential, since by this means a spring pressed locking device, now to be described, may be released, thereby allowing the feed roller 14 to be rotated.`

The aforesaid locking device, as disclosed in Figs. 3 and 5, is in the form of one section 26, of a two part bearing in which one end of the shaft 16 is revolubly mounted, the other section 27 of said bearing being secured to one end of the casing 2. As shown, the sections 26 and 27 are provided with semi-circular grooves in their facing edges, said ooves receiving the shaft 16, which, at thls point is provided with four recesses 2S spaced ninety degrees from each other and adapted to receive a rounded projection 29 which extends into the groove ofthe section 26. This last-named section is forced toward the shaft to yieldably engage the projection 29 with the recesses 28, by a pair of stiff coil springs 30 which are disposed between said section and the heads of screws 81. the latter being'passedloosely through lever is actuated to rotate the feed roller a quarter of a revolution, the projection 2.9 will be again forced into one of the recesses 28 to again lock said roller against rotation. Needless to say, the coins are discharged -from the disks into the coin box 8 before described from which they maybe removed from time to time.

In order to overcome any possibility of the score sheet slipping upon the feed roller 14, the pressing rollers 13 and 15 are both provided with bearings 32 pressed toward said feed roller by springs 33 as shown most clearly in Fig. 6. It will be understood,

however, that any preferred means could be provided for accomplishing the same result.

The score sheet 11, before mentioned, is so printed as to provide a plurality of horizontal rows of squares 33, commonly known as boxes, and with an additional space `34 at the left end of each row of such boxes, to receive the players initials, still other spaces 35 being provided at the ends of theI rows bf boxes to receive the totals or the aggregate scores of the game. Heretofore, itI has been the practice to provide the various spaces ,above described, upon individual rectangular score sheets and to print'the numbers of the various boxes (one to ten) at the top of each sheet, the Words Name and Total being likewise imprinted thereon. Rather than-follow this practice, which by the nature of my invention would cause unnecessary printed matter on the score sheet, I print the word Name or N upon the knife 4 above the spaces 34, the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 above the boxes 33, and either Total or T above the spaces 35. By so doing, the result is equally as advantageous as is that attained by the present system.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawioo ings, it will be evident that a very unique l v row of boxes each time said means is operated, whereby sucient rows may be ex- 1o' posed on the platen for recording the scores of any number of players.

EDWIN WELMAM GUUJFORD, JB.. Witnesses:

E. R. Prends, T. R., PIERCE. 

